Christie’s first ad: “Compromise isn’t a dirty word”

Erika JohnsenPosted at 3:21 pm on May 1, 2013

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is launching his first television ad buy of his reelection campaign with a 60-second spot focusing on — you guessed it — Gov. Christie’s bipartisan leadership prowess. With the 32-point lead he’s got going over his challenger, Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono, he isn’t exactly in dire campaign straits, but meh, obligatory:

Four years ago, New Jersey was broken: runaway spending, the nation’s highest taxes, and unemployment on the rise. Then we elected – Chris Christie. He made the tough decisions to get New Jersey back on track. Taxes cut. Spending cut. Government made smaller and smarter. A real property tax cap. Working with Democrats and Republicans, believing that as long as you stick to your principles, compromise isn’t a dirty word. The result: Four balanced budgets in a row, with no new taxes for anyone. The best job growth in 12 years. Nearly 130,000 new private sector jobs. Merit pay to reward New Jersey’s best teachers. And the most education funding, ever. But the most important thing he did has little to do with numbers, statistics or even politics: He made us proud to say we’re from New Jersey. Chris Christie. The Governor.

Admittedly, that aforementioned 32-point lead is a slight decline from the 35-point lead he had in March — bound to happen after the Democratic candidate was selected and started to gain some visibility — but I doubt he’s worried. He’s more focused on pitting himself against everybody’s nationally-directed sentiments of annoyance about Washington gridlock, ‘Republican obstruction,’ and Obama’s political impotence, embracing the “we can work together to get stuff done, with the right leader” tack. For a Republican in blueish New Jersey, it’s the way to be, and heck, probably a good segue into 2016 campaigning while he’s at it.

A news release from the campaign, which has the slogan “Strong Leadership,” says the ad “tells the story of how in 2009 New Jerseyans were not only overtaxed and stretched too thin by a government that was spending too much, but had lost faith and optimism in the future of their state. The ad highlights how Governor Chris Christie’s different style of leadership has fundamentally changed the way government works, and shown how it’s possible to work across the aisle and still achieve principled compromise.”